Rihm: 2. Klavierkonzert, für Klavier und Orchester

Wolfgang Rihm on his second piano concerto (interview with Bjørn Woll)

BW: Mr. Rihm, what is it about the piano concerto genre that attracts you? How do you handle the traditional form?

WR: If we take a closer look at the “traditional” piano concertos, we find that each has its own form. And that is precisely what attracts me – to create something taking its own shape while remaining within a formal continuity.

BW: What are the design and character of the piece?

WR: As we’ve said; it has its own design and its own character. Yet one could say, perhaps, that it belongs among the more intimate ones – less boxing match, more chamber music.

BW: Can you describe the concerto’s compositional style and musical makeup?

WR: No; I am not a musicologist. But listening to the piece (which, of course, I have not yet been able to do except in my imagination), the vocal character of many of its parts will surely be apparent – the aforementioned chamber-musical aspect – finely drawn rather than with a house-painter’s brush. Of course, that does not preclude the lines from occasionally galloping about and whooshing and swirling and leaping away – but the virtuosic aspect remains integrated in the song of the totality so that it does not form a foreground. That naturally makes such a piece much more difficult to play than usual virtuoso fodder; the free play of the lines remains unpredictable, “virtual” … the false floor as a resonance box.

BW: The work is dedicated to Tzimon Barto; did that inspire or influence you when you were composing it?

WR: An extraordinary artist, most highly creative in his own way. He has the most exquisite pianissimo imaginable –and that certainly had its influence on some parts of my new work – and I know that the many changes of shape and character of inflection are in the best of hands with Barto’s pianistic intelligence.

BW: Did you and the interpreter exchange thoughts, ideas, etc. during the composing process?

WR: No. When I am composing I am not “exchangeable.”

BW: Do you have a little tip or guide to listening for audiences hearing the work for the first time in concert?

WR: Imagine that Mozart wrote it – or that Rihm did. But best of all, just listen attentively.